THE HISTORY OF THE WCW WORLD TITLE

Disk 1

1.        Ric Flair leaves WCW and the Title is declared vacant pending a match at the Great Americna Bash to determine a new
Chamiop

2.        Lex Luger vs. Barry Windham in a Steel Cage Match for the vacant WCW World Title.  (July 14, 1991 in Baltimore, MD)

3.        Lex Luger vs. Sting.  (After a very lackluster draw as champ, Luger drops the title to Sting.  February 29, 1992 Milwaukee, WI)

4.         Sting vs. Big Van Vader.  (Vader pins Sting clean at the Great American Bash.  July 12, 1992 in Albany, GA)

5.        Big Van Vader vs. Ron Simmons  (Simmons becomes the first African American World Champion!  I saw this match live.
The Baltimore Arena EXPLODED!  The crowd was so loud, you couldn't hear yourself think! August 2, 1992 in
Baltimore, MD - clipped)

6.        Ron Simmons vs. Big Van Vader.  (Clips  December 30, 1992 in Baltimore, MD)

7.        The following 2 title changes took place in Europe, and were recorded with a handheld camera.  Neither title change was
recognized by WCW.

8.        Sting v. Big Van Vader (March 11, 1993 in London, England.  Sting beats Vader  to win the WCW World Title.)

9.        Big Van Vader v. Sting (March 17, 1993 in Dublin, Ireland.)

10.     Big Van Vader vs. Ric Flair.  (Vader was supposed to retain the title, but Ric Flair took over the booking duties from
Dusty  Rhodes shortly before this card took place, and the outcome was changed.  December 27, 1993 in Charlotte, NC)

11.     Ric Flair v. Ricky Steamboat (Due to the controversial finish of the match,  The WCW World Title is temporarily declared
vacant.  April 17, 1994 in Chicago, IL)

12.     Ric Flair v. Ricky Steamboat (Ric Flair wins the rematch and is recognized as the WCW World Champion.  April 24, 1994
in Atlanta, GA)

13.     Ric Flair v. Sting (Flair beats Sting to win the fictitious WCW International World Title on June 23, 1994 in Charleston, SC.  

         Flair’s WCW World Title & The  WCW International World Titles are immediately unified as The WCW World
Title. )

Disk 2

1.        Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan.  (Hulk Hogan beats Ric Flair in his first match in WCW.  July 17, 1994 in Orlando, FL)

2.        Hulk Hogan v. The Giant (The Giant beats Hulk Hogan to win the WCW World Title on October 29, 1995 in Detroit, MI in a match

         where Hulk Hogan's manager Jimmy Hart signed a contract stating that a DQ resulted in a title change.
[read – so Hulk Hogan can lose the title without being pinned.  The WCW World Title is vacated on November 6, 1995
when the ruling is declared dubious. )

3.        A Sixty Man Battle Royal for the vacant WCW World Title that includes: Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Sting,
The Giant, Lex Luger, Road Warrior Hawk, Chris Benoit, Brian Pillman, Arn Anderson, Jim Duggan, Scott Armstrong, Booker T, Steve Armstrong,

        Johnny B. Badd, Marcus Bagwell, Big Train Bart, Bunkhouse Buck, Cobra, The Disco Inferno, Bobby Eaton, Eddie Guerrero, Mr. JL, Chris Kanyon,

        Brian Knobbs, Kurasawa, Joey Maggs, Meng, Hugh Morrus, Maxx Muscle, Scott Norton, The One Man Gang, Paul Orndorff, Diamond Dallas Page, 

        Buddy Lee Parker, Craig Pittman, Stevie Ray, Steven Regal, Scotty Riggs, Big Bubba Rogers, Jerry Sags, Ricky Santana, Kensuke Sasaki, Shark, Fidel Sierra,

        Dick Slater, Mark Starr, Dave Sullivan, Kevin Sullivan, Super Assassins #1 & #2, David Taylor, Bobby Walker, VK Wallstreet, Pez Whatley, Mike Winner,

       Alex Wright, James Earl Wright, The Yeti & The Zodiac.  (Randy Savage wins a Sixty Man Battle Royal to win the vacant WCW World Title. November 26, 1995 in Norfolk, VA

4.       
 NOTE:  Hulk Hogan was not legitimately eliminated from the match, but the referee, believing Hulk Hogan was in fact eliminated,

        proceeded to award the match to Randy Savage after he was the last man in the ring.   The actual winner of the match wasn't determined

        until there were only 3 men left in the ring.  Two of them being Savage and Hogan.  Hogan then announced to the other 2 guys and the ref that

        Savage would win the match, but managed to take himself out of the running without actually being eliminated.  This  was par for the course as far as

        Hogan was concerned, as he religiously refused to lose any of his matches, or to be seen in anyway as being less than unbeatable.  Like being eliminated in a

        Battle Royal would kill your character.  Well, at least Hulk didn't put the title back on himself.)

5.        Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair.  (December 27, 1995 in Nashville, TN)

6.        Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage.  (January 22, 1996 in Las Vegas, NV)

7.        Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair in a Steel Cage Match.  (February 11, 1996 in St. Petersburg, FL)

8.        Ric Flair vs. The Giant.  (The Giant becomes the first wrestler to win a World Title in his ROOKIE YEAR!  April 22, 1996
Albany, GA)

9.        The Giant vs. Hulk Hogan.  (August 10, 1996 in Sturgis, SD)

Disk 3

1.        "Hollywood"  Hulk Hogan vs. Lex Luger.  (Hulk Hogan loses the World Title to someone!  Actually,  this was the third job
that the now NWO heel  Hogan had done for Luger. August 4, 1997 in Auburn Hills, MI)

2.        Lex Luger vs. Hulk Hogan.  (Of course, Luger doesn't hold the title very long. August 9, 1997 in Sturgis, SD)

3.        Hulk Hogan vs. Sting.  (December 28, 1997 in Washington, DC Sting had been pursuing the title for months, having
changed into his new "Crow" persona.  This match was supposed to be the culmination of his title quest, and should have
been one of  the greatest dream matches of all time with Sting pinning Hogan cleanly for the title.  But because of Hogan
and and his ability to control the finishes of his matches, and his refusal to do clean jobs for most anyone, we wound up
with a TERRIBLE match with Hogan completely dominating Sting and no-selling any of Sting's offense.  Even worse, we
wind up with an extremely convoluted ending with  a heel ref, and a Bret Hart run-in that resulted in Sting winning the
title in VERY anticlimactic fasion, and the World Title being held up following their equally horrible re-match the
following night in Baltimore, MD)

4.        Sting vs. Hulk Hogan for the vacant WCW World Title.  (Sting wins the grudge match, and is officially declared the WCW
World  Champion.  February 22, 1998 in San Francisco, CA)

5.        Sting vs. Randy Savage  (No DQ Match - April 19, 1998 in Denver, CO)

6.        Randy Savage vs. Hulk Hogan.  (April 20, 1998 in Colorado Springs, CO)

7.        Champion Hulk Hogan vs. Bill Goldberg.  (I'll give credit where it's due here.  Hulk Hogan went down clean to Goldberg
at the sold out Georgia Dome.  Goldberg was an absolute MONSTER, and was more over than anyone short of Stone
Cold Steve Austin at this point.  July 6, 1998 in Atlanta, GA)

8.        Bill Goldberg vs. Kevin Nash.  (Unfortunately, Kevin Nash, had recently been given more booking power in WCW and
insisted on only booking himself and his friends as the top stars in the promotion.  Goldberg was not one of these friends,

       and as a result, Nash, despite all logic [seeing as Goldberg was one of the only guys that was actually drawing any money,

       and was still EXTREMELY popular] COMPLETELY DERAILED GOLDBERG by taking the WCW title, and then
proceeded to kill off his character.  Bill Goldberg never recovered the momentum that he had up to that point. 
December 27, 1998 Washington, DC)

9.        Kevin Nash vs. Hulk Hogan.  (Kevin Nash intentionally lies down so Hulk Hogan can pin him to win the WCW World
Title. January 4, 1999 in Atlanta, GA.  Nash, in true "Hogan-esque" fasion, also refused to lose any of his matches if at
all possible, and At this point NEVER BEEN PINNED IN THE 2 YEARS THAT HE HAD BEEN IN WCW!  He
frequently used his backstage political power to change any finish that called for him to lose a match.  He allowed this
one because it would be obvious that he wasn't losing it in an actual wrestling match, but was basically handing the title
to Hogan)

10.     Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair.  ("First Blood" Steel Cage Match - March 14, 1999 in Louisville, KY) 

Disk 4

1.        Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair.  ("First Blood" Steel Cage Match - March 14, 1999 in Louisville, KY) 

2.        Ric Flair vs. Diamond Dallas Page vs. Sting vs. Hulk Hogan (in a Four Way Match with Randy Savage as the special
referee. DDP wins his first World Title!  April 11, 1999 in Tacoma, WA)

3.        Diamond Dallas Page vs. Sting.  (Sting wins the WCW title!  April 26, 1999 in Fargo, ND - But don't blink because….) 

4.        Sting vs. Diamond Dallas Page vs. Kevin Nash vs. Bill Goldberg in a Four Way Match.  (In true "Hot Shotting" fasion, DDP
regains the title LESS THAN 2 HOURS AFTER HE LOST IT! April 26, 1999 in Fargo, ND) 

5.        Diamond Dallas Page vs. Kevin Nash.  (May 9, 1999 in St. Louis, MO)

6.        Kevin Nash & Sting vs. Randy Savage & Sid Vicious.  (July 11, 1999 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL Randy Savage & Sid Vicious
beat Kevin Nash & Sting when Savage pins Nash. As a result of the match stipulations, Randy Savage wins the WCW
World Title.)

7.        Randy Savage vs. Hulk Hogan.  (July 12, 1999 in Jacksonville, FL)

8.        Hulk Hogan vs. Sting.  (September 12, 1999 in Winston-Salem, NC)

Disk 5

* The WCW World Title is vacated when Sting attacks referee Charles Robinson on October 25, 1999.

1.        Bret Hart vs. Chris Benoit for the vacant WCW World Title.  (Bret Hart wins the WCW World Title in a thirty-two man
tournament. November 21, 1999 in Toronto, Ontario, CANADA)

2.        WCW World Champion Bret Hart vs. Bill Goldberg. (The WCW World Title is voluntarily vacated by Bret Hart after the
controversial finish of this match - December 19, 1999 in Washington, DC.)

3.        Bret Hart vs. Bill Goldberg for the vacant WCW World Title.  (December 20, 1999 in Baltimore, MD Due to numerous
concussions [suffered at the hands of Golberg himself] Bret Hart is again forced to vacate the WCW World Title on January 16, 2000. 

       Sadly enough, Bret Hart would never recover from these injuries and would soon after, retire from
the sport of wrestling for good.)

4.        Chris Benoit vs. Sid Vicious for the vacant WCW World Title.  (BENOIT FINALLY WINS HIS FIRST WELL DESERVED
WORLD TITLE!!!  January 16, 2000 in Cincinnati, OH) 

5.        NOTE:  According to WCW, The WCW World Title is vacated by WCW Commissioner Kevin Nash because of the
controversial  ending to the above match.)

THE TRUE STORY
Chris Benoit was booked to win the World Title as a show of good faith by newly re-instated booker Kevin Sullivan, who wanted to assure

        Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko & Perry Saturn that they wouldn't be buried in WCW as they had been for the previous 4 years. 

        Benoit, who had recently 'stolen' Sullivan's wife (first in an angle and eventually married her for real) figured that this was all a ruse on

        Sullivan's part and that Sullivan would proceed to bury him and his friends as Sullivan had done during his previous stint as booker.  

        Benoit relenquished the title on January 17, 2000 and along with Malenko, Saturn & Guerrero, quit WCW and joined the WWF.

6.        Sid Vicious vs. Kevin Nash for the WCW World Title.  (January 24, 2000 in Los Angeles, CA* The WCW World Title is
vacated again by WCW Commissioner Kevin Nash and awards the WCW World Title to himself on January 25, 2000 in Las Vegas, NV.)

7.        Kevin Nash vs. Sid Vicious vs. Ron Harris in a Steel Cage Triangle Match.  (January 25, 2000 in Las Vegas, NV)

8.        *WCW Executives Eric Bischoff & Vince Russo force Sid Vicious to declare the WCW World Title vacant on April 10, 2000 in Denver, CO.

 

9.        NOTE:  It is at this point that the WCW World title begins to lose all of its value, as new head booker Vince Russo institutes a
 multitude of rapid fire title changes that ultimately renders the WCW title absolutely worthless.

10.     Jeff Jarrett vs. Diamond Dallas Page for the vacant WCW World Title.  (April 16, 2000 in Chicago, IL)

11.     Jeff Jarrett vs. Diamond Dallas Page.  (April 24, 2000 in Rochester, NY)

12.     Diamond Dallas Page & David Arquette vs. Jeff Jarrett & Eric Bischoff with Kimberly Page as a special referee. 
(April 25, 2000 in Syracuse, NY)
 
                       YES, DAVID ARQUETTE THE ACTOR!
In the final act of killing any credibility that the WCW title had left, David Arquette & Diamond Dallas Page beat Jeff Jarrett &
Eric Bischoff when Arquette pins Bischoff. As a result of the stipulations, David Arquette wins the WCW World Title. The Title
is now officially DEAD in the eyes of most fans.  In all fairness to Arquette, he was firmly against the idea of winning the WCW
title, being a big wrestling fan himself.  However, Vince Russo was  convinced that no one really cared about wrestling anymore
anyway, and that it was the surprise of putting the title on Arquette that would stick with the fans.  Russo wasn't necessarily the
worst thing that ever happened to WCW, as he was one of the few people that actually put the younger wrestlers in the spotlight. 
but Russo was DEFFINITELY the worst thing that happened to the WCW World Title.  This title switch to David Arquette
disgusted fans  and wrestlers alike.  And most refused to give the WCW title any respect after that.

Disk 6

1.        WCW World Champion David Arquette vs. Jeff Jarrett vs. Diamond Dallas Page in a Triple Deck Steel Cage Match. 
(May 7, 2000 in Kansas City, MO)

2.        WCW World Champion Jeff Jarrett vs. Ric Flair.  (Ric Flair is once again THE MAN!  May 15, 2000 in Biloxi, MS)

 *The  WCW World Title is vacated when WCW Executive Vince Russo strips Ric Flair of the WCW World Title on May 22, 2000 in Grand Rapids, MI.  Russo, who is a COMPLETE mark for himself, seems to LOVE inserting himself in WCW storylines and awards
the  title to Jeff Jarrett.

3.        WCW World Champion Jeff Jarrett vs. Kevin Nash vs. Scott Steiner in a Three Way Dance.  (May 23, 2000 in Saginaw, MI)

4.        Kevin Nash awards Ric Flair the WCW World Title on May 29, 2000 in Salt Lake City, UT.

5.        WCW World Champion Ric Flair vs. Jeff Jarrett.  (May 29, 2000 in Salt Lake City, UT)

6.        WCW World Champion Jeff Jarrett vs. Hulk Hogan.  (THE INFAMOUS HOGAN SHOOT!  July 9, 2000 in Daytona
Beach, FL)

In response to Hulk Hogan repeatedly refusing to do the job for Jarrett as originally booked by Vince Russo, I know I’ve been
rough on Russo for his booking practices, but in this instance, Russo becomes my hero by coming out to the ring and ON
LIVE PAY PER VIEW ordering Jeff Jarrett to intentionally lie down so Hulk Hogan can pin him to  win the WCW World
Title.   Vince Russo STILL ON LIVE TV announces that he is tired of dealing with Hulk Hogan & that Jeff Jarrett is still the
rightful WCW World Champion. The belt that Hulk Hogan left with was referred to as The Hulk Hogan Memorial Title. 
Hulk Hogan immediately left WCW and was never heard from again.
THREE CHEERS FOR VINCE RUSSO!

7.        Jeff Jarrett vs. Booker T.  (After YEARS of being one of the most underrated and dedicated workers in WCW, Booker T
FINALLY  WINS THE WCW WORLD TITLE!  I may not like Russo very much, but I've gotta be fair.  It was Russo
who put the title on Booker T, when everyone before him refused to do so.  There wasn't a wrestler in the company BAR
NONE who deserved it more.  July 9, 2000 in Daytona Beach, FL)

8.        Booker T vs. Kevin Nash.  (August 28, 2000 in Las Cruces, NM)

9.        Kevin Nash vs. Booker T  (Steel Cage Match - September 17, 2000 in Buffalo, NY) 

10.     Booker T vs. Vince Russo (Steel Cage Match September 25, 2000 in Uniondale, NY - I knew I wouldn't be liking Russo for
very long.  As said eariler, Russo couldn't resist not only inserting himself in the storylines, but he also insisted on getting
over on the wrestlers at every opportunity! The crowning achievement is here, as Russo wins the World Title from
Booker T.  Russo would vacate the title on October 2, 2000 in San Francisco, CA. 

11.     Booker T vs. Jeff Jarrett San Francisco Forty-Niner Match for the vacant WCW World Title.  (Booker T regains the title. 
October 2, 2000 in San Francisco, CA)

Disk 7

1.        Booker T vs. Scott Steiner  (Steel Cage Straightjacket Match November 26, 2000 in Milwaukee, WI Steiner wins the WCW
World Title and would remain the champion until the final Monday Nitro Broadcast 4 months later.)  

2.        Scott Steiner vs. Booker T.  (Booker T regains the title on Nitro's final broadcast - March 26, 2001 in Panama Beach, FL)

NOTE:  World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) purchases World Championship Wrestling in March 2001.  Booker T entered the WWE as the WCW World Champion.

3.        WCW World Champion Booker T vs. Kurt Angle.  (July 24, 2001 in Pittsburgh, PA - Kurt Angle  becomes the first wrestler
Still contracted to the WWF to win the WCW World Title!  Yeah, yeah, it's meaningless since the only thing that exists of
WCW is the actual belt, so Angle isn't exactly going to go into the record books, but it's still worth  mentioning.

4.        WCW World Champion Kurt Angle vs. Booker T in a No DQ Match.  (July 30, 2001 in Philadelphia, PA - Booker T. regains
The WCW title with the help of Steve Ausitn)

5.        Booker T v. The Rock (August 19, 2001 – The Rock wins the WCW World Title!)

6.        Rock v. Chris Jericho (Jericho wins the WCW Title.  No Mercy 2001)

7.        Rock v. Chris Jericho (Rock regains the WCW Title.  11/5/2001)

The following matches are from the tournament to unify the WWF and WCW Titles at WWF – Vengeance 12/9/2001

8.        Chris Jericho v. The Rock (With Vince McMahon’s help, Jericho defeats the Rock to win the WCW World Title.)

9.        Chris Jericho v. Steve Austin (Jericho defeats Austin to unify both the WWF and WCW World Titles into the Undisputed
World Heavyweight Championship.)